To the northwest of Santa Cruz, far from the inhabited part of the island, lies this location with remarkable variety in both flora and fauna.
After a dry landing on a rocky terrain, we come across a white sandy beach surrounded by black basaltic rock, combined with the greens and reds of the plants that gives this place an outstanding mosaic of color. Of course, this place is also an inhabited by animals like sea birds, marine iguanas, lava lizards, shore birds such as herons, fish, and crabs in tide pools.
Behind the beach, we explored a brackish water lagoon in which flamingoes could find the favorite food; a microscopic shrimp called artemia salina, which in turn gives them their remarkable pink color. They share the area with other birds likes ducks, stilts, and occasionally other waders as well as shore birds.
The red trail, due to the presence of iron in the rocks, takes us through a palo santo forest, which at this time of the year is without leaves due to lack of rain. Finally, we reach Dragon Hill, where we commonly find land iguanas at any time of the year. Large iguanas, mostly yellow in color, are the highlight of the excursion here.
After coming back on board, we get ready for the new adventure, this time along the walls of a small island called Guy Fawkes for snorkeling. Here live different types of fish, sea lions, sharks, and sometimes rays and turtles.
In the afternoon, we move to a different island called Eden to go on a Zodiac ride along the coast and look for animals like birds or marine life in the mangroves growing along the shore. Turtles and baby sharks, rays and sea lions, inhabit these areas. Some of our intrepid guests went on a kayak to experience quiet while our group of global explorers went to learn how to drive our Zodiacs and have fun around the bay.
The frosting on the cake of our lovely day was a circumnavigation around the island of Daphne Major, where science found the perfect scenario for the study of finches over decades.
Sunset behind the island was great, with birds and other animals flying around us. Wine testing was spectacular as we toasted another fantastic day with a happy conclusion.
